Charnell Timms Photography | Quick Reference Fact Sheet

DESCRIPTION:

Charnell is a freelance photographer specializing in destination photography. Using digital photography, accompanied by the funky art of lomography, Charnell is not only a photographer, but part and parcel of the wedding vibe.

Her uplifting presence, 'joie de vivre' and experience in crossing the 'cultural divide' have been celebrated by couples around the globe, who have flown her to shoot their international weddings in France, Germany, England, Mexico and the USA.

About Charnell

Working alone, photographers need to show physical endurance for longer ceremonies, but also they need to adapt to the humour and mood of the wedding party at large. It is here, aided by her honours degree in psychology, that she is able to approach her wedding shoots with a playful passion and understanding. Her boundless energy and easy spirit allows her to interact with the wedding party and guests in an effortless blend of professionalism and exuberance.

This spontaneous approach is very helpful, especially with couples who are nervous or feel awkward in front of the camera. They need some gentle pointers on how best to interact with the camera. By combining clear instruction with laughter (getting clients to run towards the camera, or asking them to jokingly sneeze out loud), you allow the focus to move away from the clients, and in that moment of pure orchestrated silliness, when they are no longer aware of your immediate presence, that you capture those spontaneous images.

The Process

For those interested in seeing more of her work, Charnell strongly suggests an initial meeting where clients can peruse her portfolio and see the quality of her printed work, but also to establish a comfort level with the photographer. It is a fantastic opportunity to discuss various likes and dislikes as well as highlighting specific needs of the clients. It is one thing reading about a person’s work/style online, but sometimes, a completely different experience when meeting them in person. For this reason she believes it to be a vital part of the selection process in choosing your photographer.

For those living abroad, email and live chat forums make communications easy, quick and reliable. Charnell is also eager to offer useful tips and advice to assist any foreign clients with arranging their wedding here in South Africa. Besides her standard packages, she remains open to novel suggestions on personalizing any packages. Packages are priced according to both the amount of hours you use her for, as well as which products you would like included into your package.

The Photographs

All photos are transferred onto CD-ROM in high resolution format so that you may not need to return to the photographer for reprints later. You are also given various options with regards to the printed size of photographs. For example, here in South Africa the 10 x 15 cm or jumbo size is very popular whereas in Europe the 5x7 inch format is more frequently used. Her Canvass prints come with an impressive 60 year quality guarantee and are box-framed to add flair of artistry to the image. Her classic black ‘coffee table' books are printed abroad to ensure superior quality and durability, with the added side benefit of being wonderfully cost-effective. After the wedding, Charnell delights in her speedy 'turn-around' time of 3 weeks for photograph collection and 7 weeks for her ‘coffee-table' books. All photography is done using Nikon equipment whilst ‘post- production' is completed with the latest Apple Mac technology.

Behind her laughing lens, she will not be found boxing herself into a specific style of photography. She believes that words like 'journalistic' or 'reportage' are highly fashionable buzzwords. Broadly speaking she instead considers herself to be both a stylist and a realist. Wedding days, she says, with all their charm and romance, are often accompanied by a haphazard unpredictability and high levels of stress.

After months of preparation for the wedding, couples are often ready to let their hair down and just enjoy their wedding day. It is here, with her playful sense of humour that Charnells photographic expertise comes to life. With the raw emotion of an intimate interview, she is able to elicit the euphoric sense of intimacy between couples.